Black and White Skies
by SongVamp
Summary: We hide behind the covers; we uncover ourselves. We aid the broken and glum; we enhance their pain. We tend their wounds to heal; we threaten to bring forth demise to the world. It all isn't the same in the end. Slight AU, implied SasuHina.
1. Prologue: Malady

**Summary: **We hide behind the covers; we uncover ourselves. We aid the broken and glum; we enhance their pain. We tend their wounds to heal; we threaten to bring forth demise to the world. It all isn't the same in the end. Slight AU, implied SasuHina.

**Disclaimer:** All things Naruto-related belong to Masashi Kishimoto. My friend and I own nothing except the idea of this fan fiction.

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_Love the angst, the adventure, and the cure to this scary thought. Most importantly, think about a paradox and how it relates so closely to our very own Sasuke and Hinata. _

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**Black and White Skies**  
_By SongOftheHarpei and Vampiress22_

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Faced with a challenge, the two girls learned to never let their sensei down. Yet, this time, they were brought close to a disastrous attack, which they did not know how to repair. Would they renounce the village into peril, in line of becoming non-existent, or save it, restore the times when the lush mix of red and white cherry blossoms would bloom so evidently? Now, all that remained were the broken, worn petals, waterless and untamed.

"What…is it?" The petite, pink-haired, emerald-eyed girl had her hands on her sides; lips shut tightly, her fists clenched as she stared in dismay at what was in front of her. The tiny hairs stood up on the back of her neck, her eyes shut incredulously, as she shook her head.

The girl next to her, the Hyuuga heiress, and once-known weakling, found herself feeling nauseated by the same thing. Her white eyes flashed until deep, intricate veins, were sewn from the corners, there in the flesh.

"My Byakugan…I-It doesn't tell me anything…"

This was the first time, exactly six months before, that they had felt so flustered and unsure of what they were about to do.

"H-Hokage-sama . . . Hokage-sama!" the ebony-haired girl screeched, as she turned away from the scene, the patient motionless on the bed.

As the Godaime entered the room, she didn't need anyone to answer her, to tell her what was wrong.

Six months, and they _would_ lose so many more patients.

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**[Prologue]**

_Malady_

(This chapter was written by both SongOftheHarpei and Vampiress22)

**-**

It was the day the world crashed, the heart of man ached, and war raged through the deep forests of the ninja world. The world shook as crimson spots splattered the grounds, staining them a hue of red. It was the day mankind become lost, the day it had to be saved, and the day no one wished had occurred.

It was not a beatific moment in the world. Time stood still as adolescents comforted the elderly, the young wandered helplessly, and adults fought battles no one imagined would ever occur. It was a day which no one wanted to remember, but it stuck with them like a pin in the back of their minds, pestering them with the memories of so much hate. The arrogance and impulsive manner, no words could describe the obscure moment, but still, war raged on after that. War raged on years after, and nothing could be done.

And Tsunade was out of her mind, in a pool of papers, trying to decide what to do. Barely any villagers remained in Konoha. There were only the sick, the ones injured and unable to fight. She wished she knew what was going on, how to fix the problem, but she was unable to understand and she often contradicted herself. She had to find out what was wrong with this ridiculous village. Problems kept piling up on her desk, and it gave her a dangerous migraine. She didn't know what to do, not at all.

"Damn it," she shouted at herself. _What to do…what to do…_

There were only few who worked at the Academy now, and an immense amount of children entering every day. Tsunade was back to the fundamentals, uniting what she believed it, tying with a string, and running helplessly away. Nothing more could be done. Nevertheless, who said she couldn't take an attempt? The worst to come would be death, death for all, for it was more inevitable than ever before.

Yet, how much of a difference would it make now that the children were taught advanced healing? It was back to the fundamentals, learning at your own pace. The village owned children at the age of ten, full genin, working with their parents in this time. They had children rise from their Academic stage and be reinstated as Chunin without the hassle of taking the exams. This war was entirely about the wisdom, capability, and little emotions.

In past wars, medical ninja were relied on above all others, revered with a respect that present-day medic-nin's dreamt to earn. They were required then in their hundreds. The currently raging squabbles were far worse than the Great Wars, with these mere children's assistance totally necessary.

Tsunade hated having to go back to this.

It didn't matter anymore. She would give up everything just to breathe better air, thinner, lifeless air, rather than the smoke-struck and disgusting filth roaming around Konoha.

These days were _not _easy anymore.

As war reined supreme, people lost all hope, a mysterious illness settled upon the ninja world. From one person to the next, it infected the lowliest of village men, women, and children, to the highest-ranked of the world's shinobi. All ninjutsu became useless in the diseases' wake, leaving many kunoichi and shinobi alike, helpless to defend their villages. Relentlessly, it swiped entire towns of their population, the corpses of their dead littering the streets like candy wrappers and autumn leaves.

It didn't care that it left citizens without their precious family and friends, the only people they could trust and rely on in this apocalypse of a world. She didn't know what was bearing such a powerful double take on everyone.

_I shouldn't worry. Worrying is wasteful. It's damn useless at this point. _The village was down in despair, broken in straight, split pieces, divided into halves, then quarters, and in numerous unrecognizable pieces.

Still unseen by the naked eye, life was infallible to some who took advantage of the matter. They would scowl less and smile intently. Demise to the world was their guilty pleasure. It caused the ninja rate to decrease rapidly, and it stripped of a tinge of hope. Not many people survived, but some found revenge in the matter. Some people found a mischievous answer to it, and they planned to take over, one day.

Like all the five kages, Tsunade was in concern for the Hidden Leaf Village. Alliances were slashed with a cold knife; only Suna remained by Konoha's side this time. Not many ninja had access to any physically powerful jutsu, and she lost her patience easily because of it. Many people were perishing, and she didn't understand what was occurring, what had caused such an untamed beast to root disconnection with one's self. She would sigh as she watched the girls of the hospital work dreary day and dreary night, aiding the wounded, the helpless, and the hurt. She would think to herself of how one day they would all die, and there would be nothing more anyone could do.

No one was going to win this war, she knew. It was all a game of placing the pawns in the correct spots and bringing forth a queen who would perish in the end, as well, to save her king. She knew it was useless, teaching them her ways. She was old, probably going to catch onto the disease herself, but she couldn't let the spirit of the village down. After all, Naruto still remained. She had sworn on the village's deep, lubricous grounds that she would protect him, the spirit inside of him, and forever would the village thrive.

Despite her optimism, Tsunade took note of the fact that Naruto seemed impervious to the latest breakout. Almost the entire population of Konoha was contaminated with the unknown illness, with every other person dropping as if they were flies. It was strange; the Godaime had expected that even the healthy Uzumaki boy would contract it. He was a strong boy; _perseverance _his friend, _giving up_ his enemy. His generation, those ninja, had been the only ones who knew what it meant to carry a bind of friendship on their back, grasp it with both arms.

Nevertheless, her worry for the fate of the village was constantly on her mind, guilt plaguing her over the fact that the war and the much-hated malady was far from her control. She could only hope that the medical ninja she'd sent out were coming closer to the cure. With the war at hand, she vowed to do her very best to protect the villagers from slaughter.

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"Shizune isn't even here," the Godaime said to herself as she sat in her office. "She'd guide me to an answer. This war, this _disease, _what's happened here?"

Amidst this turmoil, the best of the world's medical ninja researched, experimented, and wearily searched for a cure. The disease itself was hard to understand, as there appeared to be no consistent symptoms, and it was unclear how a person was infected. Amongst these people, Hyuuga Hinata and Haruno Sakura of the Hidden Leaf were working collaboratively to find the elusive remedy. Day in, day out, they could be found together, searching through medical texts and discussing properties of various herbs. Meanwhile, the other top medic-nins were losing hope quickly, but they continued to pour through countless concoctions, often testing the effects of these upon infected victims.

Really, was there much hope? Not so much.

Even with the girls at work, still nothing effective could be found. It was just luck that would strike, aiding some, but there was still no cure, still nothing useful to treat the ninja of the Hidden Leaf fully. It was as though Tsunade was watching a classic martyr, as she saw Hyuuga Hinata's gracious face and tender smile. She was the single person who believed in the rest when time was rough, and she envied it, envied the way the Hyuuga girl would risk everything and know she might not receive anything in return. She was a girl of compassion and wisdom, raised in a household, which was the polar opposite, and yet she still became someone who wanted to become stronger. She wanted to show that she could do it, she could be someone, and no one could put her down anymore.

Therefore, Tsunade walked down the halls full of ailing patients, and sighed, wondering when she would become just like them, having to suffer the excruciating pain. She wondered if feeling, the aching, and throbbing through her chest would feel anything like the exhaustion she felt this very moment. Her eyes were fatigued from lack of sleep, and she hoped Sakura and Hinata weren't working too hard. The cure would reveal itself to them when the time was right. Now, kami was going to allow them to have to live with the consequences.

As she opened to the doors to the research room, she found neither of them there. _They must be testing someone, _she thought._ They'll figure this out on their own. They're smart girls, I know that. _The room was flooded with dreary darkness, secluded from the natural sunlight, and it was full of neatly piled research papers—compared to Tsunade's desk, it seemed like heaven.

But what Tsunade found on the desk, at the very top, was something she hadn't been expecting. A note curved into her hand. Now she felt a ripping and sharp pain crawl up her spine.

_They found something. The ANBU found something.  
It's a boy, they said. I…need to know, you know… if it's…him.  
They needed medic-nin, and I was the only one left.  
I have gone to help for the rest of the night because there are some vital injuries, they said, to the boy and his conspirators.  
I'm not sure where Hinata is.  
She needs sleep.  
She's been stressing herself over this.  
Find her._

_-Sakura._

Tsunade scowled. Maybe this was what the agony felt like.


	2. Hinata: Disclosure

**Summary: **We hide behind the covers; we uncover ourselves. We aid the broken and glum; we enhance their pain. We tend their wounds to heal; we threaten to bring forth demise to the world. It all isn't the same in the end. Slight AU, implied SasuHina.

**Disclaimer: **All things Naruto-related belong to Masashi Kishimoto. My friend and I own nothing except the idea of this fanfiction.

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**Black and White Skies**

_By SongOftheHarpei and Vampiress22_

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**[Chapter One]**

_Hinata: Disclosure_

(This chapter was written by SongoftheHarpei)

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That putrid scent reminded me of the bitter taste on my tongue.

Bodies lay across the path before me. Some were dead, others twitching with their will to live on. These poor people lay amongst the rubbish with dirt and grim plastered to their faces. Many wore no clothing and those who did had little to maintain their dignity. A girl rested dying beside a rotting trash pile, a small doll held loosely in her hand. Her hair, I observed, might have been beautiful in the distant past. Some curls stuck to her cheeks whilst the other locks blended with the ground beneath her. I trailed my eyes down to the lumps on her stomach.

My heart swelled with pity.

Averting my gaze, I forced myself to ignore the decaying odours and sights. I instead focused on the earth underneath my feet; it wasn't the green I remembered it as, not the green it was supposed to be.

I shut my eyes. It didn't do anything. Scents lingered still, ignoring them providing me no security against the slum Konohagakure had become.

How could I help them, these disease-ridden people? Our hospital was full. Making a makeshift hospital was out of the question, and only time could tell when Konoha's medical ninja would fall to this disease. Yet, would I succumb to dropping amid the filth as they had?

"No, stay positive," I whispered.

We would find the cure. Between Sakura, Hokage-sama and I, we'd eliminate this malady. Past medic-nin's had unravelled others. This was just a puzzle, something that required logical thought, a methodical approach. We had to find a solution soon; Konoha was losing countless ninja and civilians with the time we were taking.

And there was something Tsunade-sama wasn't telling me, a secret she was keeping from Sakura-chan and I. Maybe it had something to do with this disease or the raging war. I sincerely hoped it was nothing important. We needed all the information we could gather right now, no matter how insignificant. Anything could lead to a resolution.

Suddenly, a metallic _clang_ resonated in the distance. I knew that sound; it was shuriken. I stopped.

Another clang came to my ears; it sounded further away this time.

Bringing my hands before me, I made the necessary seals. "Byakugan!"

My surroundings became much clearer. Every person's chakra pathways were apparent in my vision, though strangely, blank spaces, almost like holes, separated the paths.

I didn't have time to ponder why.

I focused my eyes to see far ahead of myself. Through trees, plants and buildings, my sight travelled. The further I saw, the darker the black, white, and grey shades came into view. Searching, my eyes noticed several ninja's tenketsu, each of the shinobi manoeuvring rapidly as they unleashed their kunai and shuriken. It took me a moment to recognise them.

ANBU and a few ninja without a hitai-ate.

Before I knew it, I was running toward Konoha's distant gateway.

The shadowy hues disappeared from my vision with my immediate surroundings appearing once more. Everything was just a constant blur hustling by as my feet rushed me forward. I paid no mind to the deep-set ache within their soles nor did I care about my body's protest for slumber. Surely, even the ANBU needed every bit of help they could get, and now, it seemed as though I was the only available nin. For them, I had to ignore my fatigued state.

That earlier stench came back, albeit more putrid, more potent than before. Glancing out from the corner of my eye, I noticed how many more bodies littered the streets. Really, they were just blurred shapes, but I instinctively knew the difference between the human bodies and the filth surrounding them. Those people didn't want pity, but I couldn't stop the bout of sympathy that I felt.

I suppressed the impulse to help them, forcing myself to look ahead. The familiar colossal gates lay open, exposing the beaten path usually hidden behind them. Peering through their preceding arch, the gates acted almost as a screen in which the actors performed.

Dozens of masked ANBU encircled a group of four ninja without hitai-ate. I recognised no faces amongst the foursome, apart from one glaring exception.

He was a tall, imposing figure, with eyes as dark as the sky overhead. One of his hands was secured tightly to a sword's hilt though his stance seemed relaxed, almost arrogant. Reaching the gates, my eyes settled upon the mysterious man.

His eyes were on me.

There was something about those eyes that was unmistakeable, something that screamed to be recalled. Nothing in me could deny that I hadn't seen him before.

Who was he?


End file.
